In Jacquard controlled warp knitting machines two basic problems exist with respect to the yarn guides. Because of the modus operandi of such equipment, namely, the displacement of yarn guides by the action thereon of the Jacquard dropper pins, it is necessary that the guides themselves are made of very flexible material. Thus, when the influence of the Jacquard dropper pin is removed, the guides spring back and feather. Thus, where it is desired to operate at high machine speeds utilizing narrow needle separations, it has not been possible to precisely reorient the previously deinfluenced guides in their proper positions in time for the next stitch cycle.
Partial solutions to this problem have been suggested but have not served to solve the problem entirely. German Pat. No. 697,335 assigned to Dr. Ing. C. Knobloch, proposes the interposition of a series of tabs between the guides. This system, while it has other characteristics, not relevant to the present invention, may be characterized in two important respects. First, the tabs are located on the same side of the guides as is connected by the Jacquard dropper pin. In the operation of the Knobloch device, the guide is first influenced by the dropper pin in a gross manner and a fine adjustment is made to the displacement caused by the dropper pin, by the subsequent action of the intervening tab. Upon removal of the Jacquard pin and the reorientation of the tab to its at rest position a moderate damping of the resultant feathering of the guide does occur. However, this desirable effect is cut down firstly by the fact that the tabs are oriented on the dropper pin side as said heretofore and secondly, that in view of the fact that in the Knobloch machine the tabs can also serve as secondary yarn guides they must of necessity be somewhat flexible and in their very flexibility lies their lack of ability to reorient the principal yarn guides.
The interposition of rigid tabs between yarn guides of a warp knitting machine is disclosed in German Pat. No. 1,777,059 to Barfuss. While in this device the tabs are rigid, it should be noted that they are oriented to be substantially parallel to, and out of contact with the yarn guide in the at rest position. Furthermore, the Barfuss' device is not a Jacquard dropper pin controlled device, but rather a device wherein threads attached to the Jacquard control mechanism are attached to the yarn guides themselves to influence said guides. In the Barfuss' device, the rigid tabs serve as conduits for these threads. Clearly such a device operates on different principles and cannot possibly operate at the speed of dropper pin Jacquard controlled machines. It should further be noted that apart from the incidental effect of cutting down on some feathering, there is nothing in the Barfuss' device to positively assist in the orientation of the yarn guides in time for the commencement of the next following stitch cycle.